whitney



(No Model.)

B. R. WHITNEY.

TY GUT-OUT FOR ELECTRIC CIR OUITS.

Patented Oct. 12, 1886.

SAFE

WW -w UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDlVIN R. WHITNRY, CF MANCHESTER, NEYV HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR TO THE FORSAITH ELECTRICAL MACHINE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

SAFETY CUT-OUT FOR ELECTRIC CIRCUITS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 350,648, dated October 12, 1886.

Application filed Februarv0,1886. Serial No. 191.367. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, EDWIN RUTnrn-N WHIT- NEY, of the city of Manchester, in the county of Hillsborough and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain, new and useful Improvements in Safety Cut-Outs for thee trio Circuits; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention has special reference to that class of cut-out devices which are adapted for use with incandescent installations, and has for its object to afford the greatest possible safety and accuracy in operation, with the least expense in construction, besides enabling the attendant to instantly see the cause of an accident to any of the lamps, and providing a device which can immediately be placed again in circuit when the trouble which caused the cut-out to act has been removed.

To this end my invention consists, broadly, in the combination,with a short wire or strip of copper or equivalent material placed loosely in suitable bearings, of a spring which bears when in tension upon said wire or strip when the circuit is intact, but serves to throw the same out: of its bcz'rrings, and consequently out of circuit, when an excess of current causes said wire or strip to bend or soften, and in 0 this manner cut out any particular lamp.

To thoroughly comprehend the manner in which my invention may be practically applied, rcflzrence must be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specifi- 5 cation, in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts, and where- Figure l is a plan view illustrating my in vention applied to a double safety cut-out, Fig. 2, a side view of same, one of the springs be- 40 ing shown out of tension; and Fig. 3 a crosssection on line $1, Fig. 1.

A represents a suitable plate or block, of wood or other proper material, which will be suitably grooved or perforated to receive the.

necessary wires, as will be understood by electricians. On this block are fastened, in the present case, four short hangers, I I3 and B B, one pair being near each end, (when the block is fastened in a different position B B and B" B maybe caller standards.) These hangers have suitable slits or bearings formed therein, as seen at b b, Fig. 2. to support the ends of short wires or strips C C (of harddrawn copper, brass, or other metal or n1aterialwhich willsoftcn by heat, so as to be casily bent,) which are placed loosely therein. Bearing upon these wires or strips C C are the free ends of flat springs D D,the opposite ends of which are firmly fastened to the block A, toward its center, being in tension. The circuit is indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1-that is to say, the current passes through the hangers or standards and the wires or strips.

The double arrangement just described is 6 to provide for absolute safety and to protect both sides of the lamps. In case one device should fail to act, the other one will certainly do so. It will be understood that there may be only one device for each lamp in the cir- 7o cuit; or the cut-outs may be multiplied and I the necessary connections arranged according to the ideas of the electrician.

The operation of my safety cut-out will be readily understood; but I may say that when 7 a lamp breaks or the circuit is otherwise disturbed, so as to cause an excess of current to pass through the wire or strip resting in the hangers or standards, such excess of current will heat and soften said wire or strip to such 80 an extent that the tension of the spring bearing against the same will at once cause it to bend sufficiently to release the ends from their bearings and throw it out, thus immediately breaking the circuit at that point and cutting 8 5 the adjacent lamp out. When the cause of trouble has been removed,the spring is simply pressed back to its first positionand another wire orstrip inserted to replace the one thrown out. Thus it will be seen that I produce a 0 perfect safety cut-out at small expense, and one which does not get out of order, besides enabling the electrician to quickly restore the circuit without the use oftools or mending of broken parts.

What I claim, and tcrs Patent, is-

1. A safety cut-out for electric circuits, consistiug of a wire or strip resting looselyin hangers or standards, and a spring bearing IOO desire to secure by Letin this position. said springs I 2 350,648 I V I against said wire or strip and acting to bend spring pressing when in tension upon said and throw same out of its bearings when soft- "wire or strip, and adapted to bend and throw ened by an excess of current, said wire or strip same out when the latter is softened by excess and spring being norniailyin circuit, substanof current, substantially as and for the. pur- 5 tially as and for the purpose specified. pose specified.

2. In an automatic safety cut out, the com- Manchester, 18th day of January, A. D. 1886. binat-ion, with a block or bed, of hangers or EDWIN R. WHITNEY. standards having slots or bearings therein, a \Vitnesses: wire or strip of copper or equivalent material NATHAN P. HUNT, 1

10 having its ends resting in said bearings, and a v L. B. JONES. 

